LA Mayor Karen Bass says it is ‘shameful’ landlords are price gouging with rents
Landlords in Los Angeles have drastically raised the price of rents, sometimes even more than double the price previously listed, after fires erupted, according to reports.
The New York Times reported that LA-based real estate agent Samira Tapia said of more than 400 listings, nearly 100 properties raised rents over the 10% threshold allowed by law once a state of emergency has been declared.
She pointed to one rental property in North Hollywood that went from $800 to $5,700 overnight.
In another case, a five-bedroom home in Santa Monica that was listed last February at $12,500, was raised to $28,000 per month, Inside Edition reported.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was asked on Tuesday about price gouging during a press briefing.
“Anybody that would take advantage of the desperation that people feel right now, I just think it’s shameful,” she said.
Bass explained that the district attorney and city attorney are going to be on the lookout for price gouging, and the city council plans to address the issue.
“It’s something that we really have to look into because we just can’t allow that to happen,” she said. “First of all, the rents are too expensive to begin with, and the idea that somebody would gouge folks at this point in time, I think, is shameful.”
Bass further explained that on Monday she signed an executive directive to make 1,200 housing units that were “stuck in the bureaucracy,” available for occupancy in the next week or so.
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